If you are freaked out by the title of this recipe, you are not alone. The thought of having chickpeas or any kind of beans in my cookies was repulsive to me, until I tried these babies.

These Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies are gluten free, grain-less, chock-full of protein, fiber, antioxidants AND they are so tasty, you won’t miss your Mrs. Fields for a second.

Now the main ingredient of these cookies is in fact chickpeas, but I promise you, they are completely unnoticeable. Chickpeas are actually almost tasteless and are super good for you, so why not just try it out? That’s what I did and I was pleasantly surprised.

The next ingredient is walnut butter, but you can use any nut butter of your choice. I sometimes get sick of everything being peanut butter tasting, so I used this Crazy Go Nuts Oatmeal Cookie Walnut Butter and it really helped give the cookies that classic cookie taste.

Instead of sugar this recipe uses maple syrup, which has more nutritional benefits than regular sugar and is less refined. It provides manganese, zinc and can even help your immune system. The flour is replaced by coconut flour, which you only need a small amount of because it is so incredibly absorbent.

Only 18 more days until Spring! Soon we will be shedding our sweaters, busting out the florals and bearing our legs….oh wait. I’m not ready!!! Anyone else feeling like they need to start prepping for bikini season NOW?

Here’s some fun news – the hubbs and I just booked a cruise! In just a few weeks we’ll be sailing into some Bahama sunshine. Thank god. So with all this talk of springtime weather and fitting into shorts I thought I would share one of my favorite veggie-loaded, low carb dinner recipes.

In this recipe I use Trader Joe’s pesto, but you could use any kind. For the chicken sausage I recommend using Al Fresco Chicken Sausage, which is gluten free, all natural and super delish. This time I went with spinach & feta flavor, which worked perfectly.

The only catch for this recipe is that you do need to have some soft of spiralizer. I have the “made for tv” version, aka the Vegetti, which works perfectly fine. No need for expensive equipment. Also, are they serious with that name??

Pesto Chicken Zoodles

Ingredients:

2 large zucchini

5 button mushrooms

2 Tbsp garlic

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 chicken sausage

1 Tbsp pesto

Directions: Spiralize zucchini into thin noodles and slices mushrooms. In a large saute pan on medium heat cook mushrooms and garlic in olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add in zucchini spirals and cook for about 7 minutes. Meanwhile, heat chicken sausage in microwave and slice into discs. Add chicken sausage to pan along with pesto and mix completely to combine.

My Pesto Chicken Zoodles recipe (aka zucchini noodles for all the newbs out there) is super quick, easy and totally satisfying. You may or may not feel like you are kickin’ back in a big ‘ol booth at Olive Garden scarfing down pesto primavera and breadsticks. It’s really pretty much the same thing, but with less guilt and self-loathing 🙂

Happy Monday! I’m taking a short break from healthy food and fitness today to talk about my wedding. I know the title of this post seems a bit boastful, but the truth is that my wedding was only beautiful because of all the amazing people involved that helped make it possible!

One year ago today I was stressing over white lanterns, teardrop earrings and seating charts. Luckily I don’t have to deal with that anymore, but there are a lot of brides out there right now who are probably wondering things like “who should I choose for a DJ”, “how can I afford a beachfront wedding” and “what the h@ll am I going to do for favors”?

So seven months later I’ve finally compiled a list of everyone who helped make my day so incredibly perfect, so that I can share it with others who may be looking for a little bit of help! And luckily for them, these vendors come Katie-approved. Believe me, my vetting process was intense and I am very picky, so rest assured, they are all top notch.

Shawn and I were married at the Union Bluff hotel in York, Maine. The hotel is located right on Short Sands Beach and the ceremony takes place on the “bluff” of grass overlooking the ocean. The reception is held in the Meeting House ballroom, which has a beautiful outdoor patio with ocean views. Two great things about this venue – 1. it comes with a wedding coordinator, Darlene Yankura, who is incredibly helpful and knows her stuff 2. their Sunday pricing makes it actually affordable to get married on the ocean!

Lynn is a magician with flowers and is literally the nicest person you will ever meet. She was always a text, email or call away and I fully trusted her to deliver creative arrangements, and that she did!

Maryann took us by surprise. We were about to go with another (very expensive) bakery and then we did a tasting in Maryann’s home kitchen. It was the best cake we had ever had and at 10am we could not stop eating the double fudge chocolate slice she placed in front of us. The cake came out beautiful, she was easy to work with and best of all, it was a bargain price.

How cute are these favors? These were one my favorite things about my wedding. I tortured my bridesmaids by making them fill up 120 jars of popcorn the night before the wedding, but in the end it was worth it. The popcorn came from Coastal Maine Popcorn in Maine and I highly recommend the Rice Crispy Treat flavor. Oh. my. god. so delicious.

Skip David’s Bridal for your gown. Trust me. Getting your gown at Madeleine’s Daughter in Portsmouth is the quintessential dress experience. The shop is beautiful and everyone treats you like a queen, or a princess rather. Who doesn’t want that?! They are able to accommodate all kinds of budgets and a personal consultant helps you through the whole process.

Our photographer was able to make two awkward, shy people look like a million bucks. I mean, have you seen our photos? Trust me, we don’t look that good in real life. Will is so professional, quick to respond and most importantly takes amazing photos. He was recommended to us by a friend and we continue to recommend him to our friends time and time again.

Josh and Kyle were creative, professional and seemingly invisible! The best videographer is the one you don’t notice. P.S. if you’re on the fence about getting a videographer, DO IT! Watching our video was like reliving the day, and it goes by SO fast that you will want the opportunity to see it again.

Aaron was our DJ and played classical guitar for our ceremony. Numerous people came up to us and told us how much they loved his playing. Plus he was great at keeping the party going on the dance floor!

Overall it was truly one of the happiest days of my life. I remember feeling so calm and able to just enjoy the day, which was possible because of my amazing vendors (and of course a few helpful bridesmaids and groomsmen).

If you are a bride in the Seacoast area planning your wedding, feel free to reach out to me with any questions! I’m happy to help wherever I can 🙂

And if you’re just a lover of all-things happy and pretty, I hope you enjoyed my wedding recap!

Do you know what America’s favorite comfort food is? That’s right, it’s pizza! Anyone else on the same page? I’m not ashamed to say that I regularly daydream about biting into a warm, cheesy slice of pepperoni pizza. They said you should follow your dreams, but if I followed every one of those dreams I would be 800 pounds.

The solution: zucchini crust pizza!

This recipe is great because it’s low carb and gives you all your veggie needs for the day and then some. Also, let’s be real for a second, everything is better smothered in cheese, especially your veggies.

I’m using a mozzarella and cheddar cheese blend, but feel free to mix and match your cheeses as you please. I’m also using uncured pepperoni for this recipe. If you’re going to indulge in processed meats, do so responsibly. Friends don’t let friends eat nitrates.

Directions: In a medium bowl combine grated zucchini with salt and set aside for about 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Thoroughly coat a nonstick baking pan with nonstick spray and drizzle with olive oil. After the 15 minutes, drain as much liquid as you can from the zucchini. Mix zucchini with parmesan cheese, flour, egg, pepper and oregano. Pour the zucchini batter in the center of the baking page and spread over the surface. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove the crust and top with marinara sauce, cheese and pepperoni slices. Bake for another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Slice and serve warm.

I don’t know about you guys, but Friday could not have come any sooner. Now I’m off to a weekend full of sleep, relaxation, dog walks and movies. There will probably be some good eats in there as well of course.

Happy Tuesday! Wow, I have been SO busy lately. Work is crazy, dance is ramping up for a big show in March and I have some exciting news to share. I will now be guest blogging for Stay, Work, Play! SWP is an organization focused on promoting how awesome it is to stay, work and play in our great state of New Hampshire. I will be representing the Seacoast region and you can find my articles on their blog every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of the month! Check out my first article, 7 Ways to Embrace Winter on the Seacoast, right now!

So since I am so busy this week, I wanted to share with you guys a recipe that is literally the easiest and quickest thing ever. You actually just use the microwave and there are only 4 ingredients involved and one bowl. I kinda wish all recipes were like that! To make this recipe even healthier you could swap the real butter for Earth Balance spread and swap the brown sugar with Truvia. I’m a sucker for real butter, just ask my mom (I ate sticks of butter as a kid) so I like to keep it real.

Microwave Baked Apples

Ingredients:

1 large apple

1 tsp cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp butter

Directions: Peel and slice apples and place in small microwave safe bowl. Mix in cinnamon, brown sugar and butter and microwave for 2 minutes. Mix again and top with your favorite frozen yogurt or ice cream.

This Microwave Baked Apples recipe is great when you need something sweet, hearty and satisfying on a cold winter evening. I like to top it with some vanilla frozen yogurt and enjoy with a good book or some Netflix binging. Speaking of being too busy, I have been meaning to crack this book, Someday Someday Maybe by Lauren Graham for about 3 months now, which I think is hilarious given the title.

Eating healthy when you’re on-the-go can be quite challenging. And I am the queen of on-the-go, so I know the struggle is real.

Little tid-bit of info about my life – I work full time in marketing during the day and 2-3 nights a week I teach dance and rehearse at a local studio. That means a lot of my dinners are packed to-go or just need to be super quick.

Over the years I’ve found some products that are easy AND healthy. The worst feeling is walking into a dance class with an overfull belly of McDonalds because you didn’t have time to make something healthy.

Below is a list of my top 6 Healthy Food Swaps for Quick Meals

1. Instead of 45- minute white rice…

Microwave brown rice/grain packet

One of my biggest pet peeves is how freakin’ long it takes to cook rice. Luckily, I found Seeds of Change rice packets. These guys are a life saver. And I love that they are incorporating other grains like quinoa and red rice.

2. Instead of chicken nuggets…

Frozen sausage

As you found out in my last post, I love frozen sausage. They’re just so easy to pluck out of the freezer, microwave and BAM, you’ve got your protein in less than 3 minutes. Combine Roasted Garlic Al Fresco chicken sausage with some brown rice and vegetables and you’ve got a whole meal in less than 10 minutes. Just make sure the sausage you pick is nitrate free. Processed meats are OK in moderation, just make sure they are all natural or organic. I also love these Kayem artisan sausages!

3. Instead of Easy Mac…

Whole grain mac & cheese box

You’re tired, you’re hungry, you’re about to reach for the cereal…but wait! You have a box of mac & cheese! AND it’s whole grain?? WHaaaat? Combine one of these whole grain mac and cheese boxes with some frozen vegetables and you’re as good as gold. This Hodgson Mill Ultragrain Mac & Cheese is made with quinoa! So cool.

4. Instead of canned vegetables…

Frozen vegetables

Quick, easy and there when you need them. With the same nutrition as the fresh version, you can’t go wrong. I especially like some of the Trader Joe’s frozen vegetables that have some tasty sauces or spices on them.

I do not recommend frozen meals on the reg. However, if you’re in a pinch, these Smart Made meals are actually not horrible for you and are truly tasty. My expectations were pretty low since frozen meals like this usually make me gag and then die of sodium poisoning. But, to my surprise it was pretty darn good. The idea is that they have swapped in healthier ingredients like brownie rice, whole grain pasta, turkey instead of beef, etc. I’ve had the Turkey Sausage & Roasted Veg Lasagna and the Roasted Turkey & Vegeteables meals, both of which made me feel great after and I could just reach into the freezer and grab it on my way out the door. Perfection.

6. Instead of Ramen…

Hearty soups

This is definitely my last-ditch effort at a meal. But when all I can do is grab a can from the cabinet, I want to make sure that it contains something at least semi-healthy. Lately I’ve been loving these Campbell’s Well Yes soups. They are made with relatively healthy ingredients are surprisingly tasty. Sweet Potato Corn Chowder is my fave. But my all-time favorite soup/meal is from my man Wolfgang Puck. His soups are amazing and made with hearty organic ingredients. The butternut squash is my wintertime weakness.

Happy Valentine’s Day! On this day of celebrating love, I want to talk about something that I love very, very much. This special something can always make me smile, cheers me up when I’m down and is oh-so sweet! It’s rich, intense and always satisfying. You’ve probably guessed it by now, it’s CHOCOLATE.

Chocolate is kind of a bad boy. It’s like that guy in high school that broke all the rules, but was secretly super smart, but didn’t want to tell anyone because it would ruin his coolness.

What I’m saying is that chocolate is secretly good for you (in moderation). It’s often exiled from any diet because of its high sugar and fat content, but dark chocolate can actually provide many health benefits because of it’s high antioxidant content.

Studies have shown that eating a small amount of dark chocolate every day can actually help reduce stress, blood pressure, risk of stroke and help with weight loss! Plus we all know it’s a great aphrodisiac…

Check out this Women’s Health article for even more benefits of eating chocolate.

Right in time for Valentine’s Day I have the perfect chocolate recipe for you to share (or not) with your special someone.

These Dark Chocolate Yogurt Brownies are oozing with chocolate flavor. I lightened up the recipe a bit by using yogurt instead of oil and oat flour instead of white flour. I used Bob’s Red Mill whole grain oat flour. You could food process your own oats, but I like that Bob has already done it for me 🙂

The omega-3 and antioxidant content is high because of the walnuts and dark chocolate. I like to use Hershey’s Special Dark cocoa powder and chocolate chips, but you could use whatever you like best. So in one brownie recipe you’ve got fiber (oat flour), calcium (yogurt), omega-3’s and antioxidants. Man, you’ve already scored 😉

Dark Chocolate Yogurt Brownies

Ingredients:

1/2 cup vanilla yogurt

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

1/3 cup oat flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup chopped walnuts

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine yogurt, sugar, vanilla and eggs. In a medium bowl mix together flour, baking powder, cocoa and salt. Combine dry ingredients with wet and mix until fully blended. Add in chocolate chips and walnuts. Pour into greased baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes. Let cool completely and then enjoy.

These brownies are definitely on the dessert menu for my Valentine’s Day celebrations. And hey, if you’re flying solo this Valentine’s Day I fully support diving into these with a pint of vanilla froyo by your side. That WILL be a good time. No bad boys needed. Enjoy!

Do you love cheese?! Do you love warm, ooey gooey comfort food? If so, then this casserole is for you. This dish resulted from my craving for something warm and hearty. Right now life is pretty cold, everywhere I go. So when hot showers and hot cocoa just don’t cut it anymore, I turn to comfort food.

Oftentimes comfort food leaves you feeling heavy and sleepy, so I wanted to make something that would leave me feeling energized and ready to go. Instead of using pasta or rice as the base, I chose to use sweet potato, which offers lots of great nutritional benefits like fiber, vitamic C, potassium and B vitamins.

This dish is gluten free, full is healthy veggies and could be easily made vegan by omitting the chicken sausage and subbing the butter and cheese with alternatives like Earth Balance or Daiya Cheese.

Speaking of chicken sausage, let’s talk about it for a second. It’s one of my favorite go-to’s when I’m in a pinch for a quick, healthy meal. I love to stock up on Trader Joe’s or Al Fresco chicken sausage and freeze it. Then I’ll microwave it for an easy protein solution. Just make sure your chicken sausage is all natural and nitrate free. You don’t want any of those nasty chemicals in your beautiful casserole. I’ll be talking more about chicken sausage in my next post, 6 Healthy Food Swaps For Quick Dinners. So stay tuned for that!

Sweet Potato Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

1 large sweet potato

2 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup butter

1/8 cup flour

Salt and pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups half & half

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cups broccoli

4 mushrooms

2 chicken sausages

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel and dice sweet potato, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and bake for 20 minutes. While the potatoes are baking, slice mushrooms, broccoli and chicken sausage into bite size pieces. In a medium pot melt butter and mix in flour, salt and pepper. Add in half and half and then melt in half of the cheddar cheese. In a large bowl, combine sweet potatoes, mushrooms, broccoli and chicken sausage and mix in cheese mixture until everything is fully coated. Pour into baking dish, sprinkle on the rest of the cheese and bake for 20 minutes.

This dish kinda reminds me of mac & cheese, minus the mac. It gives you that same comforting feeling, but without the guilt! I don’t know about you, but for me, mac and cheese is always great going down, but pretty uncomfortable after.

The last thing I want to say about this recipe is that it’s so friggin’ easy. If you’re like me and have a husband who thinks he’s the only one that can cook a good meal, bring this out when you want to beat him at his own game. Super easy, but impressively delicious. Enjoy!

Happy almost-Friday! I don’t know about you, but I am so glad the weekend is only hours away. Before I throw in the towel for the week I wanted to share a few things I learned last weekend when I attended Nuvo Dance Convention in Boston!

Nuvo is a big treat for me because I’m able to take class, observe amazing dancers and learn from some of the greatest teachers in the industry. It’s honestly like a trip to Disneyland for a dance teacher. Plus any weekend with dancing + Cheesecake Factory + drinks with the girls is a win in my book.

Below are just a few of the many things that I took away from the weekend.

1. Improv is Everything

Improvisation is built into every single class, whether it’s before the start of a combo or as an exercise itself. And the kids are AMAZING at it. It’s something that I try to work on with my students, but now I know that it’s even more important for them to be comfortable with it and at an even younger age.

Improv Tip: For contemporary classes I like to start class every now and then with an improv warm-up. Instead of doing the usual isolations and stretches I spread the kids out, put on a song and give them prompts to lead them through an improvisation. I ask them to stretch a bit before they begin and limit their improv to smaller movements if they haven’t taken class yet. This warms their muscles, their minds and helps them practice improvisation.

2. Lay Down To Get Aligned

Proper alignment is very important and something I struggle with communicating to my students. Chantel Aguirre took us through an enlightening Floor Barre exercise that forces you to align and activates the correct muscles while you’re laying down, making it easier for your muscles to remember to activate when you stand up.

Floor Barre Exercise

Lay on the ground and put your hands on your hips. Tilt you thumbs towards the ground and tuck your pelvis. In this tucked position you may be a bit lifted off the ground, but engage your abs so you are not arching.

Lay down again and in the tucked position do 2 tondues front (right, left) with a flex and then 2 tondues side (right, left) with a flex.

Immediately stand up and repeat the same 4 tondues.

4. Forget Your Legs

Dancers these days are so obsessed with getting their legs higher that they forget about their arms. They can do the kick, but their arms are dead in the air.

Tip: Stacey Tookey had a great tip – make the dancers perform their combo without using their legs at all. Just have them stand in 2nd position, but do all the same arm movements that are required in the combination. It forces them to focus on the arms and make sure they are fully extending.

4. Verbalize Tap Steps

In Anthony Morigerato‘s class he talked about the importance of dancers verbalizing the sounds they are making with their feet. One way to practice this is to associate words and syllables with a step, with the number of syllables denoting the timing of the step. To make this easy for kids to understand, Anthony associates the steps with names of fruit and calls it “making a fruit salad”.

Anthony’s Fruit Salad Tap Exercise

Do the step, right and left, and say the word at the same time, exaggerating the syllables. Repeat each step 4x before going to the next one.

Step = pear

Dig heel = ap-ple

Shuffle step = pine-ap-ple

Paradiddle = wat-er-mel-on

Overall it was an awesome weekend of dancing and we all came back with a little more knowledge and a little more swagger, which helps in class, at the club and in life in general.

Good morning! Yesterday we got hit with some thick, heavy snow so naturally we all cancelled everything we had planned (when I say we, I mean the entire state of New Hampshire) and hunkered down for the day.

Dance was cancelled so that meant I had some extra time on my hands. For me extra time = baking time. I decided to experiment with my new favorite healthy food swap, pumpkin puree!

Pumpkin is so versatile and full of essential vitamins and fiber. You can easily use pumpkin as a healthy alternative to ingredients like butter, oil and eggs in baking recipes! By swapping in pumpkin you will automatically reduce the calories and fat in the recipe and increase your veggie intake for the day. It’s a win-win!

Today I replaced the butter that would normally go into these oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with the same amount of pumpkin puree. The results = you don’t miss the butter for a second. Your baked goods may come out a little more orange tinted than normal, but who doesn’t like a little extra warm glow in their kitchen?

These cookies are full of other healthy ingredients too like dark chocolate chips, which provide healthy antioxidants, walnuts and coconut for some healthy fats and whole wheat flour and oats for added fiber. The recipe title says cookies, but these could probably qualify as a power bar if you’re in a pinch. Enjoy!